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Show TkE DAily Utah MONDAY, APRIL ODYSSEY H RON 2, 1988 UMVfUSITY OF "Meinits tav CLE UAH VOL. 97, Working for a reunion See page 8 NO. 129 wsrlh)ir for homeless Camp-out- , midnight vigil net $2,000 for homeless By Darren Tucker Chronicle campus editor Despite cold temperatures and threatening rain, approximately 50 University of Utah students and community members camped on the Union lawn Friday M""" 4.. Chronicle photo by Steven C. Wilson University of Utah students and community members disassemble their tents after spending a chilly night on the was sponsored by ASUU and the Lowell Bennion Community Center as a University of Utah campus. The sleep-o"symbolic night of homelessness." ut Utah higher education faces austere times if tax rollback passes, Kerr says By Todd Curtis Chronicle staff writer may be faced with a 25 to 30 percent tuition increase or a community college may be eliminatmeasures are adopted in November, ed if Wm. Rolfe Kerf, commissioner of higher education, told the Utah Board of Regents Friday. measures would cripple Kerr said the Utah's system of higer education, force schools to turn away 8,000 to 10,000 students, cause morale problems and drastically harm the state's economy. It's estimated that Utah's . Orem-Stude- nts tax-rollba- ck tax-limitati- on higher education system could lose between $25 mil- lion to $52 million, depending upon, which proposal is passed. Kerr said higher education's budget will most likely be cut by $34 million. tax-rollba- ck "It's like deciding in advance which child you would kick out of your house if your family income was drastically reduced," he said. "This would be a crippling blow to higher education's ability to meet the state's needs. I can't believe for a minute that the citizens of Utah would knowingly take such steps to destine the state to mediocrity," Kerr said. "People are concerned about taxes, but if the rollback passes, it would dismantle the higher education system as we know it. It will hurt the state's future. We'll lose the ball game," Regent Sue Marie Young said. Kerr told the Regents the cuts would cause widespread demoralization among facul "It's like deciding which child you would kick out of your house if your " family income was drastically reduced, Wm. Rolf Kerr, commissoner of higher education, said. The $34 million estimate assumes that both the People's Tax Reduction Act and the Spending Limitation Amendments will be passed. The People's Tax Reduction Act would repeal all increases passed by the 1987 Legislature on income, sales, gasoline and cigarette taxes and the Spending Limitation Amendments would limit property tax. The $34 million estimate was provided by the State Tax Commission and the State Office of Planning and Budget, which have prepared an analysis of the impact measures if approved. of "The only way for higher education to handle a $34 million appropriation cut would be a major reduction in the size and scope of Utah's colleges and universities," he tax-limitati- on said. Kerr speculated it might be necessary to eliminate one or two schools, either a community college or a college howevwithin one of the universities. He would not er, which schools or programs would be affected. ty members, disrupt pro- grams and delay graduation. The $34 million cut would translate into a 13.1 percent cut in tax revenue and a 9.8 percent cut in total appropri ations to higher education, the Regents were told. the 11 years, Utah's nine colleges and uniDuring past versities have chosen the less painful options in trying to handle eight budget cuts, Kerr said, referring to budget reallocations. During the last three years, higher education has received $15.7 million from the state to cover $45.5 million in costs. As a result, class offerings and services have been reduced, tuition increased and libraries have cut back on books and materials. The commissioner also said dozens of training and educational programs necessary to Utah's economy would be lost if voters backed the proposed "Universities would lose millions of the $150 million in research funding that now flows into Utah and multiplies 1.7 times in the state's economy," he said. businesses to Kerr said this would cause Utah. bypass out-of-sta- te night to raise money for Salt Lake's homeless. As a "Night of Symbolic Homelessness", U. and community organizations such as the "Greeks," LDSSA and the Lowell Bennion Community Center, donated $100 or 20 hours of community service to the Shelter the Homeless Project. In return, the organizations were allowed to sponsor a tent and camp outside on the Union lawn Friday night. Although it was chilly and damp, most of the people who spent the night in tents said they were much more comfortable than people who are truly homeless. Lee Cano, coordinator of the event, said although an official tally wouldn't be available until Monday, the event raised about $2,000 and 150 hours of community service work. At midnight, a candlelight vigil was held in honor of Salt Lake's homeless. Speakers addressed the issue of homelessness and discussed possible solutions. Speakers included Cano, Irene Fisher, coordinator of the Bennion Center, Sen. Francis Farley, and Andrew Hunt, assistant editorial editor of the Chronicle . Fisher said the morals of a society are tested by the way people respond to problems such as the homelessness. "We want to meet the moral test. We want to make a difference. We want to raise money," she said. on page two see "sleep-out- " Students unaware of enrollment cap plan, survey shows By Bruce R. Burningham Chronicle staff writer Although the Utah State Board of Regents' master plan may affect a number of University of Utah and high school students, most students are completely unaware of the proposal. According to a shotgun survey conducted by ASUU, more than 72 percent of those surveyed, roughly 350 students, are not familiar with the Regents' plan to limit enrollment at the U. A similar survey conducted among high school students showed nearly 92 percent of the students are equally unaware of the proposal. The Regents' master plan suggests changing the way the U. views its incoming freshmen by implementing an admissions index. The index ranks applicants according to their high school GPAs, as well as their scores on either the ACT or SAT tests. The U. currently bases admissions on completion of certain high school course requirements, coupled with a minimum GPA of 2.0 ASUU president Mike Kaly voiced his opposition to enrollment capping when the U. Institutional Council considered the plan April 11. Kaly said the key to improving education is finding better ways to fund education, not finding ways to exclude people from it. Although the Institutional Council voted to delay making a final decision until May, ASUU decided to take immediate action. ASUU conducted several surveys among U. and high school students and discovered most students are unaware of the Regents' plan. see "petitions" on page four Non-prof- it Org. U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 1529 Salt Lake City, UT |
